The Polynesian Diaspora is a funny farm-style (or semantic network) puzzle. A single “island” (Easter Island, of course) is given, with crossword-style clues given for the other islands in the “archipelago.”
The islands are connected by arrows, representing the migrations between them. Each arrow includes an icon, representing the boat used for the migration, and each icon shape corresponds to a specific transformation used to connect the two islands. In the hard version of the puzzle, these transformations were clued somewhat indirectly; in the normal version, they were given more explicitly with examples.
| Icon | Description | Transformation | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
changes the odds | Replaces letters in odd positions; keeps even positions the same | ISLAND → ASGARD |
 |
gets all mixed up | Anagrams the letters | SHORE → HEROS |
 |
finds an alternative | Replaces the word with something in the same class | TEA → COFFEE |
 |
knows every title from the AFI 100 | Chooses the next word from a movie title in the AFI 100 | LOST → ARK |
 |
picks up a two-letter word along the way | (and inserts that into the initial word) | SEA → SE[PI]A |
 |
travels only to the past | replaces a verb with its past tense | SWIM → SWAM |
 |
swaps its port and starboard, up and down, day and night | Replaces with an antonym | PORT → STARBOARD |
In addition to these transformations, some trips “lose something overboard”, meaning that a letter from the transformed answer gets left behind. After solving all of the clues and leaving the “lost” letters next to the boats where they were lost, teams can read the lost letters from top-to-bottom to get the answer: GIANT FOREHEAD.
